'Recession Resilient' Climate Start-Ups Shine in Tech Downturn

When Arebeth Pease was laid off from the tech start-up MasterClass last year, she could have had her pick of jobs. But so many tech companies’ missions rang hollow, she said, and many were creating more problems than they were fixing.Ms. Pease, 42, was drawn instead to Span, a start-up that makes smart home electrical panels and is among a class of fast-growing companies aiming to combat climate change. She joined Span in September as an operations manager, with the start-up’s focus on slowing the effects of climate change as the main selling point.

“We’re actually doing work that matters,” she said.